Things They Never Said
by PeRiD0TpR1nCeSs
Summary: Rule #1 for all strong ninjas: Always be alert. Despite knowing this, I was still unprepared for the truth that hit me hard in the face. Perhaps I was not as strong as I once thought.


**AN:** Hello curious readers! This was written on a whim haha (because I happened to be feeling angsty) so it's staying as a oneshot, just saying. Nevertheless, I hope you like it!

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I sensed it.

My eyes were wide open now, scanning the empty room. The door was shut tightly as were the windows, the dresser looked exactly the same as it had been before I collapsed onto the bed, and the glass of water was still, reflecting a beam of light from the moon on its clear surface. Nothing had changed. Yet I had an inkling that something was out of place. I spun around to glance out the window, but there was only the silhouette of trees, no sign of an assassin or two. The bed creaked slightly as I slid off, and I spread my feet apart in a defensive stance. My ears listened carefully for any traces of an intruder, but there was none. The house was eerily silent, to the point it became deafening. I took slow, tentative steps towards the door and opened it, afraid of what was awaiting me beyond the threshold.

Sharingan blazing, I peered through the gap and heaved a sigh of relief when nothing lashed out at me. The world was spinning in slow motion with only red and black clouding my vision. Every detail of the house became crystal clear, yet nothing seemed out of place. I gulped, knowing that there were two possibilities. One, my instinct was wrong and there was no one else in this large mansion, or two, my enemy was very, _very_ skilled to be able to hide from my bloodline limit. I silently prayed that it was the former.

There, I sensed it again. A flicker of chakra. So familiar, yet so unknown. I tried to grasp its nature but it was futile. At this point I was certain that an enemy was lurking in the shadows. Taking a deep breath, I bolted down the hallway and stealthily rolled past the corridor in utmost silence, careful not to alert any listening ears. I was staring at all four walls of the massive living room now, but nothing peculiar was in sight. I channelled more chakra to my eyes, increasing the contrast of the red and black shades. Still, nothing seemed different. Everything was still and in its right place. I frowned, not liking this revelation. My gut instinct never lied.

Another flicker of chakra.

I spun my head towards the window at the far end of the living room. I felt an intimidating flash of chakra originating from that window, but it was very brief, gone as quickly as it came. In several long strides, I crossed the room and peered out hesitantly out of the window. My heart was palpitating at such a loud volume in my ears, it was hindering my sense of hearing. However, I was not prepared for the sight before me.

In one swift motion, I opened the window and leaped out, landing softly on the grass just as a cold wind blew past. My baggy attire made rustling sounds in the wind, betraying my presence. The man crouched before my mother's grave didn't look back. His hooded cloak shielded his appearance completely, which only served to heighten my anxiety since I had no idea who I was up against. He lifted an index finger to the grave despite knowing that I was watching him, and the next thing I saw was a small flash of chakra being emitted from his fingertip. There was the soft sound of static, though it was barely audible from this distance.

Without a second to waste, I dashed towards the figure and attempted to rip off his cloak, but another man caught hold of me from behind, placing a hand over my mouth to muffle my indignant shout. I whirled around and attempted a strike to his chest, but he squatted down and grabbed hold of my ankle. I unintentionally let out a curse as he swung me over his head. All of a sudden, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The man jumped up to tackle me, but I dodged mid-air and attempted a kick. He dodged swiftly and his fingers closed around my ankle again, much to my horror. The next thing I realised was that I was flying, until my back hit a nearby tree sharply.

I groaned and lifted myself to my knees, using one hand to rub the base of my spine and the other to steady myself. Despite having my sharingan to aid me, I could not detect the man's movements quickly enough. He was simply too fast. I wanted to punish myself when I realised I had left my kunai pouch at home. How careless could I get! I took in a shaky breath and plucked a piece of bark from the tree trunk behind me, grasping it tightly like I would a kunai. After all, good ninjas had to be spontaneous and make do with whatever they were presented with.

I plucked out several fragments of tree bark and broke out from the shadows, hurling all six of them at the man. I silently praised myself for the deadly accuracy. Unfortunately, he seemed to vaporise into thin air and reappeared behind me. I lunged forwards to strike him but he parried my attack smoothly with his forearm. We exchanged a series of blows in close combat, taking turns to attack and defend. It almost felt like a game, and I started to panic since it was clear that I could not overpower this man before me. Why was he still playing with me? What was his motive?

I was tempted to use a _Katon_ technique, but decided against it since I had no intention of frying the backyard to a crisp. My mind was busy calculating my moves and jutsus as I dodged the onslaught of kicks and punches from the stranger, but I could not figure out a way to beat the man. I knew too little about him, and the little I did know only reinforced my certainty that I could not bring him down myself. I needed assistance, but my pride prevented me from escaping to seek help.

My sharingan predicted a strong kick, so I quickly brought my arms to the front of my face in a cross to parry the attack. As I expected, he aimed at my face with his foot and kicked me _hard_. A little too hard. I expected to stumble back slightly, not take flight once again. This time I flew several metres, landing roughly on the ground in front of the other man. His back, originally facing me, was now turned. The chakra in his fingers had dissipated and he looked down at me almost cockily from his tall height. My eyes widened when they met another pair of red eyes.

 _Genjutsu!_ I hastily formed a seal and released myself from the jutsu.

Nothing seemed to happen, except that when I turned back, the man I was previously sparring with was gone. I gave the man before me a second look, realising they were the same person. I had been trapped in a genjutsu from the very beginning, and I gritted my teeth at the belated realisation. I could have very well gotten myself killed. Why then, did this man spare my life?

"What do you want?" I whispered.

He simply took a step forward, his lips tightly pursed. I scrambled back.

"What do you want from my mom?" I uttered, volume a few notches higher than before.

He didn't respond, but his feet kept moving, and soon enough he was towering above me. I could still see his red eyes glaring down at me.

"What do you want from me?!" I shrieked and backed away. "D-Don't come near me, or...or I-I'll kill you!" I conjured up a chidori in my right hand, something that I had been unable to execute for the past month despite harsh training with Kakashi-sensei. It was a last-ditched attempt to protect myself from an enemy, though judging by its size, it would probably do nothing more than scratch. I levelled my gaze with the man, trying to display some courage even though I was scared on the inside.

One moment I was screaming for the mysterious man to get away, and in the next I found myself in his arms. The chidori died a quick death at this unexpected gesture. I struggled, but his grip was firm. It was then I realised that beneath the thick layers of clothing, his chest was warm and strangely comforting. He was human after all. Who was I kidding when I thought otherwise?

"Who are you?" I demanded.

Instead of replying, he pulled down his hood down to reveal a smooth, pale face framed by ebony strands of hair dipping slightly past his chin. The ends of his hair were spiked at the back, defying gravity itself. His features were sharp, but not overly so. He looked like one of the dark princes from my manga collection, but the frightening part was the uncanny resemblance he bore to my very own appearance. His sharingan was staring back at me, tomoe whirling madly in those crimson orbs, memorising every detail of my face.

"How old are you?" he asked, completely evading my question.

"A-Answer my question."

The man smirked. I had to admit he looked rather stunning, even though I was a typical heterosexual male. "Hn...I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just answer me."

"Ten..." I mumbled, unsure if I had made a mistake in telling the stranger.

"Hn."

"Hn," I mimicked. It wasn't my intention to tease him, but it came out that way. This man seemed like less of a threat when he removed his hood, especially when I caught sight of the barely noticeable tear stains matting his cheeks. His lips twitched to form a miniscule smile for a brief second before it straightened out into an indifferent line.

"Eleven years ago I married Hyuuga Hinata," he said. I thought my ears had heard wrong. Yet, the cicadas kept singing and the leaves kept rustling. "The five great nations had been in a war then. I had to leave my wife to hunt down a particular organisation, but I did promise I would come back. And I did. I just didn't expect to come back to _this_." I could not make out if he was referring to myself or the grave, but I supposed it was both.

His initial coldness had melted into something else which I could not decipher. The powerful sharingan that pierced through the darkness was deactivated, and in the next instant I found myself staring into dark, obsidian eyes. Eyes I see in the mirror each morning.

 _"Who is my father?"_

 _She let out a bitter smile and kissed my forehead, pulling the blanket up to my chin. I touched her hand tentatively, waiting for an answer. Her smile instantly crumbled and she bowed her head down, shielding her face from my view with her long hair._

 _"Y-You'll meet him someday..."_

 _I wanted to probe further, but I realised that my mother was crying. Her bottom lip was quivering, and I watched helplessly as streams of tears cascaded down her pink cheeks. I jumped out of bed and hugged her. She was a strong woman, a jounin at that, but at times like this she was just so fragile. I had to reach out to protect her, though I had no power to, but even so, I had to keep her together. If her emotionally strong facade ever fell apart I had to stitch it back up like a good son would, if I couldn't mend her broken heart._

 _Years later I realised that I was naive. My father had probably died in the war._

The tall man walked towards me once more. His countenance was no longer as guarded as it previously was, in fact I thought I caught a flicker of something in his eyes. Was it guilt? Relief? Affection? Amongst the myriad of emotions I sensed, the strongest was sadness. He was grieving. I looked down with a heavy heart, staring absently at the ground when something caught my eye.

"What's that on your hand?"

He wordlessly lifted up his left hand for me to examine. I eyed him warily, then shifted my gaze to the ring on his finger. My fingers instinctively reached for the necklace hidden beneath my shirt, pulling it out to see the light after a good two years. I managed to stifle a gasp when they were identical.

"It's yours now."

I looked up at the man – my father – and took a step back. He merely closed the distance. My eyes kept drifting from my mother's tomb in the distance to the man's face less than a metre away from my own.

"W-What is my father's name?" I asked, albeit a bit softly.

"Uchiha Sasuke. And yours?"

"Uchiha...Itachi." I felt a bit perturbed when his sharingan came back in full force, tomoe spinning as quickly as a pinwheel before it went back to being black, a dark pit that seemed devoid of all feelings. My mother never told me why she named me Itachi, but judging from my father's reaction he knew something I did not. A moment of strained silence passed, until the man called Sasuke smiled. It was wistful, but I could see the muscles of his jowls pulled taut to keep the smile in place. I simply stood rooted to the ground in anticipation. What was going to happen now?

In a second, he closed the distance between us and placed a hand on my shoulder. I was too astounded to move a muscle.

"Itachi...are you happy?"

"What?"

"Do you have friends?"

"Um...yeah. But I miss my mom."

"Hn. I guess...see you around, son." I felt his hand slide off my shoulder and turned to look at his retreating form. Under the moonlight, he looked like a phantom of the night, living in the shadows and only coming out when there was a purpose in doing so.

"Otou-san!" I called. He paused for a brief moment and turned around to regard me. I started scurrying towards him ungracefully, tripping on my feet several times. "Otou-san! Come home with me?" It was supposed to be a bold statement, since he as my father was obliged to stay with his child, yet it came out as a hesitant question. My father was an enigma. Beneath a layer of fear I still found a sense of comfort with him, and I wondered how he was capable of illiciting such feelings from me, someone whom he had just met.

I did not expect him to poke me on the forehead with two fingers. "Sorry Itachi, next time." My eyes widened as a world of red suddenly engulfed me. In an instant, my muscles betrayed me and I felt myself falling, but a pair of strong arms caught me. I felt giddy as I tried to break out of the genjutsu, but it was too strong. My father was carrying me to some place, but I could not tell where. He shoved open several doors with his foot, and finally I felt myself being laid on a familiar bed. The covers were pulled to my chin, like my mother always used to do, before he left. I heard a faint apology, but I was not sure if it was a dream since a new darkness was starting to envelope me.

I woke up the next day feeling like I had just undergone hibernation. I stretched my muscles and looked out the window. Like the previous night, nothing was out of place, except that this time I sensed no presence. A part of me wondered if Uchiha Sasuke had been a dream, but my theory was proven wrong when I glanced down at the necklace with my mother's wedding ring gleaming under the sunlight. If last night had been a dream, the necklace would have still been tucked in my shirt.

 _So it wasn't..._ I thought grimly.

I sat down on the bed slowly, trying to recall the previous night's events. All of a sudden, I jumped up at a certain memory. My mother's tomb! My father had done something to it last night! I opened the window (again) and jumped out, careful to land properly on the grass. The moment my feet hit the prickly grass, I sprinted towards my mother's grave at the far end of the yard barefooted. I scanned the piece of stone, sharingan ablaze, for something my father had left behind. There was nothing I could identify, but just when my confusion started getting the better of me, my eyes wandered past an inconspicuous carving slanted upwards right next to my mother's name.

 _I love you._

My eyes slowly returned to their normal state, fingers smoothing over the small carving. At first glance, it was not noticeable but now that it had caught my attention, I could not take my eyes off it. I had to bite my lip to stop it from trembling. I wish I had seen my parents together, like those spoilt, lucky bastards out there who were born with both parents by their side. I tried to convince myself that I was lucky, since I managed to meet my parents. Naruto oji-san once told me that he had never seen his parents before, save for photographs that were kept neatly in obsolete, half-empty albums. Compared to him, I was already fortunate.

I felt proud that my mother was so beautiful, and my father was so cool. He seemed dark at first, but still handsome nevertheless. My guess was that he was a formidable ninja, though a part of me despised him for leaving my mother behind to fight, especially when she was pregnant with me. Was he aware at that time? I would never know. Even though things turned out this way, I was still happy to have them as my parents. The only thing I had to do now was train hard to become a strong ninja like both of them, so that when Otou-san returned home I could show him that I had grown, that I was worthy to share the same eyes as him. He would be proud to have me as his son. I just had to wait.

But he never returned.

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 **AN:** Maybe I'll write something in the original universe...should I? Ah but of course I'll finish my other AU fic first, I mean, I already know how it's gonna end so Imma see it through. ;-) Till next time! ~~


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